One vegan student's attempt to chronicle her life through the medium of cake

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Emma ponders stereotypes

Mini-Emma ponders cake

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything, but I do feel I've had a good excuse; for a while after we moved into our new house, we didn't have either the internet or a usable oven. However, all that changed when Gary, the professional oven cleaner, was sent round to work his magic. He did an amazing job and by the end of around two and a half hours, our oven was bright, sparkling and seaweedy fresh once more. While he was cleaning, we had a nice chat about his eco-friendly cleaning products, my degree, and the time he saw a vegan on an episode of 'Come Dine With Me'. He'd been impressed by the aubergine curry she'd made and we discussed how actually, in spite of what some people seem to think, there's a whole world of exciting non-animal food out there which everyone, vegans and non-vegans alike, can enjoy.

Speaking of stereotypes about vegans, I generally imagine that people think of vegans as either really weak and anaemic (actually, herbivores are no more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than omnivores [1][2][3]), or really angry and militant. (I've met very few such people, and I reckon that if there are any angry vegans out there, they're just not getting enough cake... Then again, perhaps they do have good cause for being angry...?) But anyway, I was catching up with an old friend this evening and he told me that his stereotype of a vegan is someone really happy and at peace with the world. I quite like that idea. Vegan cake makes me happy, anyway. Not only is it, you know, cake, but I can enjoy it even more in the knowledge that the ingredients caused minimal suffering on their way into the mixing bowl.

Teehee, I even told someone the other day that I turned vegan for the cake. It's as good a reason as any, I reckon. Stay tuned for more cake recipes any day now!